Will writer insurance
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,376 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why is will writer insurance important?
Every case and client is unique, especially in your line of work. If someone raised a professional indemnity claim against your business – or even a public liability issue – would you be ready, with funds to cover it? We provide will writers’ PI insurance for hundreds of UK professionals, including extra cover options for public and employers’ liability, your equipment, and personal accidents.
- will writing professional indemnity insurance, between £50,000 and £5 million
- cover for the essentials, from the contents of your office to legal expenses
- public liability insurance options, between £1 million and £10 million
What does will writing insurance cover?
From the clients you work with to the equipment you rely on, details are important when building a will writing insurance policy. We carefully consider your individual trade, usually starting with professional indemnity protection and building in any other cover you need. Whether it’s public liability or an expensive piece of equipment, we’ll help you find cover that fits.
Will writers’ public liability insurance
In case your business causes an injury or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your business.
Will writers’ professional indemnity insurance
In case there’s a claim for negligence, or breaches in your duty of care.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to your fixtures and fittings or operational equipment.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you and your will writing business face legal costs.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or elsewhere.
Will writers’ public liability insurance
In case your business causes an injury or property damage.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage to someone’s property, caused by your will writing business
- an injury or illness caused by your business activities
- accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees
For example:
- you accidentally spill coffee on your client’s sofa while visiting their premises, causing a permanent stain
- your client trips over a bag which you’ve left on the floor during a consultation, breaking their ankle
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your business.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)
**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**
For example:
- a contractor working for you traps their hand in your office door, fracturing two fingers
- your receptionist slips down some wet steps outside your office which need pressure-washing, breaking her arm and injuring her lower back
Will writers’ professional indemnity insurance
In case there’s a claim for negligence, or breaches in your duty of care.
What’s typically covered by will writers’ PI insurance?
Claims against your business for professional negligence or a loss-causing breach of contract. This can include:
- advice which turns out to be incorrect
- mistakes in your work that cost others money to fix
For example:
- you send an email containing sensitive information to the wrong person, and your client raises a breach of confidentiality claim
- a client deems your work to be negligent and inaccurate after writing their will, and raises a professional indemnity claim against you
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
Business and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to your fixtures and fittings or operational equipment.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- accidental damage to your fixtures and fittings, or the equipment you use to run the business
- theft, flood, and fire damage
For example:
- someone breaks into your office and steals three company laptops
- you drop your laptop down some steps while visiting a client, causing serious damage to the screen
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you and your will writing business face legal costs.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your will writing business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
- access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis support to help you protect your reputation as a trusted will writing professional
For example:
- you sign a contract which carries a specific delivery deadline but the process takes longer than you’d anticipated, delaying your work – the client takes legal action and you need to pay associated costs
- a contractor raises a legal suit against you, and you need to recover costs
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or elsewhere.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death at or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- while on a walking holiday you injure your lower back, preventing you from working as normal for a few weeks
- your office manager suffers an injury while swimming at the weekend, and needs time off work for hospital visits
Read more about personal accident insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does will writer insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £3.80 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
How we work out example prices We take the highest price from the bottom 10 per cent of all our customers paying in monthly instalments (based on data from 1 January - 31 August 2021). Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example will writer quotes, real prices
£9.44 /month
£74.41 /month
Freelance will writer taking contracts within their county
- 2-3 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Bristol
Public liability
Not included
Employers’ liability
Not included
Professional indemnity
£50,000
£26.17 /month
£232.62 /month
Will writting business with two employees taking contracts nation wide
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 2 employees
- Based in Oxford
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Professional indemnity
£100,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 13/08/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
What kind of excess should I expect?
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
| Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
|---|---|---|
| Professional indemnity | No excess | £2500 |
| Public liability | £200 | £750 |
| Contents | £100 | £750 |
| Portable equipment | £100 | £500 |
| Employers liability | No excess | No excess |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
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How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does will writing insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Does will writing insurance cover my work correctly?
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider copywriter insurance or journalist insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide these services alongside building work, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£28 million in claims paid out in 2021
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2021
Chosen by 800,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 600,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,376 reviews
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Will writing insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about will writers’ professional indemnity insurance and other popular covers. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
If you make a mistake in your work, for example you give misleading advice when preparing a will, or you failed to get the right signatures on a document, you could be sued by your client. Professional indemnity insurance (PI for short) could cover the legal fees and compensation costs, up to the limit of your policy. Both the Society of Will Writers and the Institute of Professional Will Writers require their members to have adequate professional indemnity insurance.
Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 043 8527 to update your policy before you take on this new work. If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.
Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 043 8527. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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